The frontier is never somewhere else
For anyone who thought that my musings of a shadowy group of individuals (called the Metrix) who control time, and thereby the fates of all our lives, was just the insane ramblings of a mad lunatic, I present to you Hollywood's latest science fiction adaptation, The Adjustment Bureau. Now as we know, Hollywood is the bastion of truth where all things of an Androidosophical nature are concerned, so we would be wise indeed to take heed of the messages presented to us in this movie.
Based loosely on a story by American science fiction author Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau follows the exploits of a shadowy agency that directs the course of human lives by the application of subtle techniques. The Bureau has a plan for mankind's future, and in order to get us to stick to that plan they must resort to certain coercive methods, such as traffic accidents and spilt cups of coffee. In any case, the film connects with the doctrine of Androidosophy in three simple ways.
Firstly, all agents of the bureau are given a manual, as part of their kit. This manual displays all the choices open to a particular individual, along with their resulting consequences, in the form of circuit diagrams. The fact that the diagrams look like electronic schematics reenforces the idea that the characters are mere electronic impulses, trapped inside the circuits of a giant machine (the Metrix). The agents, in this instance, assume the role of electrical engineer, as they ensure that the paths their subjects take around the circuit diagram is the one most in keeping with the overall system requirements. The idea of agents running around consulting notebooks is very similar to the concept of the Wayfinding manuals utilised by Upper Realm agents; in Androidosophy.
Next, the case officers of the Adjustment Bureau make use of seemingly ordinary doorways as dimensional gateways, through which they travel the length and breadth of the country in an instant. This makes them equivalent to the Dark Runner Teams of the Shade Alliance. In downtown New York City (the former hub of the technosphere) the network of these doorways is so complex that agents refer to it as the 'substrate' i.e. the Technospheric substrate. I have been discussing the Technospheric substrate of the Metrix for months now, and I feel that this movie is confirmation, by Hollwood, of it existence.
Just take a look at these posters for the movie. They are like billboards, screaming at you to take notice of the fact that the entire path of human history is under the regulation of the Shade Alliance and the Metrix.
The final thing that struck me about this movie was the 1940's dress style of the Bureau's case officers. It makes sense that they should be wearing these clothes, because that is when the Metrix was first set up (in 1945). It would not be necessary for the agents to alter their general appearance throughout the course of time, because they themselves operate outside of its guidelines.
Perhaps the most iconic and important shot in the whole movie shows the four case officers standing atop a tall building in New York City. The general mood, style and setting of this scene synchronistically echoes those of Norman Maccaig's Hotel Room, 12th Floor, a poem which tries to give a sense of the divide between; past and future, night and day, chaos and order, civilization and primitive society. As you can see below, the scene is shot at dusk, and I will bet my hat that the window they are try to steal a look into is on the twelfth floor. What do you think?
Hotel Room, 12th floor
This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect the
Empire State Building, that
jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing
on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper.
But now midnight has come in
from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness is shot
at by a million lit windows,
all ups and acrosses.
But midnight is not
so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between
a radio and a television set, and hear
the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through
the
glittering canyons and gulches
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones, the harsh screaming
from coldwater flats, the blood
glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades can
keep the midnight out.
Norman McCaig
What this poem is really talking about when it says the frontier is never somewhere else is that line which eternally separates us from that undiscovered country, we call the future. The future is always just ahead of us, and no defenses or blockades can prevent its on-coming forward march. This is why the poem is trying to draw comparison between the Old West and the modern day streets of Manhattan Island, and why the case officers of the Adjustment Bureau are dressed in regalia most befitting men of that time.
This connection between The Adjustment Bureau and the wild west is interesting when we note some of the other movies that Mat Damon is appearing in at present. Films like, The Hereafter, which was directed by old Spaghetti Western star Clint Eastwood, and True Grit, which is actually a Western, and probably the best film of the lot.
For anyone who thought that my musings of a shadowy group of individuals (called the Metrix) who control time, and thereby the fates of all our lives, was just the insane ramblings of a mad lunatic, I present to you Hollywood's latest science fiction adaptation, The Adjustment Bureau. Now as we know, Hollywood is the bastion of truth where all things of an Androidosophical nature are concerned, so we would be wise indeed to take heed of the messages presented to us in this movie.
Based loosely on a story by American science fiction author Philip K Dick, The Adjustment Bureau follows the exploits of a shadowy agency that directs the course of human lives by the application of subtle techniques. The Bureau has a plan for mankind's future, and in order to get us to stick to that plan they must resort to certain coercive methods, such as traffic accidents and spilt cups of coffee. In any case, the film connects with the doctrine of Androidosophy in three simple ways.
Firstly, all agents of the bureau are given a manual, as part of their kit. This manual displays all the choices open to a particular individual, along with their resulting consequences, in the form of circuit diagrams. The fact that the diagrams look like electronic schematics reenforces the idea that the characters are mere electronic impulses, trapped inside the circuits of a giant machine (the Metrix). The agents, in this instance, assume the role of electrical engineer, as they ensure that the paths their subjects take around the circuit diagram is the one most in keeping with the overall system requirements. The idea of agents running around consulting notebooks is very similar to the concept of the Wayfinding manuals utilised by Upper Realm agents; in Androidosophy.
Next, the case officers of the Adjustment Bureau make use of seemingly ordinary doorways as dimensional gateways, through which they travel the length and breadth of the country in an instant. This makes them equivalent to the Dark Runner Teams of the Shade Alliance. In downtown New York City (the former hub of the technosphere) the network of these doorways is so complex that agents refer to it as the 'substrate' i.e. the Technospheric substrate. I have been discussing the Technospheric substrate of the Metrix for months now, and I feel that this movie is confirmation, by Hollwood, of it existence.
Just take a look at these posters for the movie. They are like billboards, screaming at you to take notice of the fact that the entire path of human history is under the regulation of the Shade Alliance and the Metrix.
Imagine seeing these driving along the motor way or going shopping? They look like campaign posters: Only for once, they appear to be saying something close to the truth.
The final thing that struck me about this movie was the 1940's dress style of the Bureau's case officers. It makes sense that they should be wearing these clothes, because that is when the Metrix was first set up (in 1945). It would not be necessary for the agents to alter their general appearance throughout the course of time, because they themselves operate outside of its guidelines.
Perhaps the most iconic and important shot in the whole movie shows the four case officers standing atop a tall building in New York City. The general mood, style and setting of this scene synchronistically echoes those of Norman Maccaig's Hotel Room, 12th Floor, a poem which tries to give a sense of the divide between; past and future, night and day, chaos and order, civilization and primitive society. As you can see below, the scene is shot at dusk, and I will bet my hat that the window they are try to steal a look into is on the twelfth floor. What do you think?
Hotel Room, 12th floor This morning I watched from here
a helicopter skirting like a damaged insect the
Empire State Building, that
jumbo size dentist's drill, and landing
on the roof of the Pan Am skyscraper.
But now midnight has come in
from foreign places. Its uncivilised darkness is shot
at by a million lit windows,
all ups and acrosses.
But midnight is not
so easily defeated. I lie in bed, between
a radio and a television set, and hear
the wildest of warwhoops continually ululating through
the
glittering canyons and gulches
police cars and ambulances racing
to the broken bones, the harsh screaming
from coldwater flats, the blood
glazed on sidewalks.
The frontier is never
somewhere else. And no stockades can
keep the midnight out.
Norman McCaig
What this poem is really talking about when it says the frontier is never somewhere else is that line which eternally separates us from that undiscovered country, we call the future. The future is always just ahead of us, and no defenses or blockades can prevent its on-coming forward march. This is why the poem is trying to draw comparison between the Old West and the modern day streets of Manhattan Island, and why the case officers of the Adjustment Bureau are dressed in regalia most befitting men of that time.
This connection between The Adjustment Bureau and the wild west is interesting when we note some of the other movies that Mat Damon is appearing in at present. Films like, The Hereafter, which was directed by old Spaghetti Western star Clint Eastwood, and True Grit, which is actually a Western, and probably the best film of the lot.
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